Reviews
Broward Stage Door’s Disappointing My Fair Lady Lacks Magic and Charm
This edition of My Fair Lady at Broward Stage Door is a disappointing muddle other than a few adequate performances under the direction of the usually reliable Michael Leeds. The first two thirds of this evening is mostly a listless, lackluster effort. Surprisingly, the quality improves so significantly in the final third of the show that you wonder if they switched out the casts. But by that time, it’s too late. Even at its best moments, and it has some, there’s no magic, no charm.
Theater Shelf: Show Tunes, Comic Operas and Singers Gordon MacRae & Howard Keel
Theater Shelf, a recurring feature, will review recently-released books, CDs and DVDs of interest to theater lovers. Some will be popular titles like a new Original Cast Recording, others will be works you’ll be intrigued by but didn’t even know about. Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows and Careers of Broadway’s Major Composers – Fourth Edition
Another Shade of Red at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Red, John Logan’s illumination of art and artists now at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, is so insanely popular (50 productions licensed this season across the country; six in Florida) that snobs are beginning to sneer that anything that ubiquitous can’t be really good.Director Lou Jacob’s clear vision here, executed by Mark Zeisler as the abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko and JD Taylor as his young assistant/acolyte, favors passion as its primary color.
Red Hot Lovers Sizzle At Broward Stage Door
Broward Stage Door Theatre has a knack for Neil Simon. Just when you thought there wasn’t much new to be done with yet another of Simon’s old chestnuts, the Coral Springs theater company presents a fresh production that’s entertaining from beginning to end. With its latest Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Stage Door loads one of Simon’s funniest plays with talent, which only makes the comedy soar higher.
Top Gun! The Musical in FTL Crashes and Burns
This production of Top Gun! The Musical at Empire Stage suffers from Shoulda Woulda Coulda Syndrome: It shoulda been cast with performers who could actually sing and act. It woulda had a shot at being a cult hit. And it coulda been a lot of fun, if it were only in more capable hands. But as it is, Top Gun! The Musical crashes and burns.
Rigoletto Has Much To Admire, But Won’t Make You Weep
Rigoletto is the third Florida Grand Opera production this season with much to admire, even a few moments of technical artistry that you can describe as thrilling. But it’s admiration from a distance, more intellectual appreciation than emotionally touching.
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